Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Operation Baen Bulk 2015

[EDIT: UPDATE: Thank you Instapundit and Insty's readers!!!]
[EDIT: Clarified the history of the Operation Baen Bulk]
[EDIT 5/15/15 - Continuation of above clarification and an apology have been included at the end of this post.]

If you've been a reader in past years, you may have heard about Operation Baen Bulk, a charitable effort that yours truly has taken part in since 2009.

Operation Baen Bulk started out in 2009 when Keith Glass heard of soldiers deployed to Afghanistan who had little to access to "comfort items" that would be sold in the Post Exchange. That was because his unit was forward-deployed, their PX was a tent, and many shelves were empty more often than not!

Keith made a plan (with the participation of several members of the Baen's Bar discussion groups - including your truly, who would complete the third OBB campaign in Christmas of 2010 and go on to lead the fundraising efforts ever since) to send shampoo, body wash, toothbrushes and toothpaste, hand sanitizer, wet-wipes, etc. - in bulk - so that the whole unit could share. In addition, winter had just set in and this unit had to patrol in the mountains, so some more friends raised money, got measurements, and sent multiple pairs of warm winter hiking socks for every member of the team.

Next we heard about an ammo supply platoon that had to pull stock and make deliveries at all hours of the day and night. Ammo was stored in large "conex" containers (think semi-sized truck trailer without wheels) and those things are dark inside, even during the day. Our contact asked if we could send flashlights and replacement batteries, because they just didn't have enough issue flashlights. We sent several cases of the super-bright Surefire flashlights, and several months worth of batteries.

By this time, the winter holidays were approaching, so with out friends at Baen Books, we sent books, cookies, candy, small gifts and holiday decorations to as many troops/units as we could contact.

But back to the Ammo Supply Platoon... Since the unit had to make those middle-of-the-night deliveries, they asked if we knew of any travel coffee mugs that could stand up to being bounced around in military vehicles. So we designed and ordered stainless steel mugs (picture at right), and raised the funds by selling a mug to our friends - for each mug purchased, we could have three manufactured - thus we sent 2 mugs to any of the troops we were supporting for each one sold. The campaign was so popular, we had to have a second run of mugs made. We sold over 200 mugs, and sent nearly 500 mugs to Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea and Germany.

Fast-forward six years, and we have run 6 almost-yearly campaigns to send "comfort items" - snacks, books, personal hygeine supplies, unusual requests that are not readily available to deployed troops. In many cases, we've also sent regional favorites to give the troops a "taste of home" while they serve our country abroad. We have supported more than 10 units in 6 countries, plus other individual requests as they come in. Donation support trickled in, with each campaign able to support a higher volume. [Many times with the assistance of Instapundit and our friends at PJMedia, Vodkapundit, PJ Tattler, Otherwhere Gazette, and others.]

Then in 2013, we changed direction, slightly. There were fewer troops deployed, but a record number of soldiers recovering from combat injuries. Since we are a loose affiliation of Science Fiction fans, we decided to buy Kindle eBook readers, pre-load them with free books, and send to facilities where troops were recovering from combat-related injuries. Since those injuries could involve limbs and eyesight, we choose eBook readers that could adapt to large-print and one-handed, stand-alone operation.

Once we had the idea, we started asking for donated books directly from the publishers and authors...

The response was astounding, and we were able to load the readers with over 500 titles - science fiction, fantasy, adventure, reference and classic literature.

We raised over $5000 and sent 80 Kindles, divided among 5 facilities.

This year, we are at it again. In previous years, we asked strictly for donations, and were able to gave a limited number of thank-you gifts out to top contributors. This year is a little different, since contributors can get an immediate token of our appreciation if they buy a 2015 Limited Edition Operation Baen Bulk Challenge Coin. You can see the front and back of this coin at the left. It is 2" diameter, 1/8" thick, minted from antique brass and feels nice and weighty in your hand. All of the coins in this minting are engraved with the year (2015). There was a previous, serial-numbered minting exclusively for the 2009-2012 OBB teams, but we're making this coin available to anyone and everyone for $27.50. We're using the same cost model as the OBB mugs above, so 2/3 of the cost of the coin will go directly to OBB, with only 1/3 of the cost going to minting, shipping and handling.

We're taking straight donations, or you can order an OBB coin directly from http://obb.teddroberts.com. Please note that while Teddy's Rat Lab, Brain&Brain Press and TeddRoberts.com are hosting the website and merchant site, we are not receiving any profit from the sale.

Here's a lab rat... just because... well, see below!

While we were at it, we made a few other coins, and the proceeds from those sales will also go to support OBB2015. For fans of author Sarah A, Hoyt and may be familiar with the Sarah's Diner Facebook group and/or the Baen's Bar Sarah's Diner conference, we have a Sarah's Diner coin featuring artwork by Robert A. Hoyt. The Dragon flipping pancakes refers to the iconic sign of The George Diner in Sarah's fictional town of Goldport, CO. Some of you may also know that Sarah is heavily influenced by the work of Robert A. Heinlein, (note similarity in the naming of her eldest son, above) so the back side of the coin features one of Heinlein's famous phrases: TANSTAAFL - "There Ain't No Such Thing As a Free Lunch."

Fans of John Ringo's recent series starting with the 2013 novel Under A Graveyard Sky - may recall that the philosophy of the key scientist in that novel could be paraphrased as What part of Mad Scientist did you not understand? That phrase, and a few other characteristic utterances of Mad Scientists have been captured in the Mad Science coin for Teddy's Rat Lab and fans a/k/a "Speaker's Lab Rats."

Artwork for the front face of the coin is by Speaker, and is also available in a slightly modified version as a button from Mystik Waboose Clothier.

These additional coins are available at http://teddroberts.com/ecommerce.html, once again, all profits will go to Operation Baen Bulk. These coins are 1&3/4" in diameter, 1/8" inch thick and finished in gold-plated brass. Both the Diner and Mad Science coins are serial numbered from 1-200. For an extra charge, customers can request a specific S/N or the lowest available numbered S/N [Be advised, as of this writing, S/Ns below 24 are taken, with numbers below 50 going fast. S/Ns 1-23, 26, 31, 42, 50, 51, 69, 86, 87 and 100 are already reserved.]

[EDIT 5/15/15: Clarification and Apology:

An earlier version of this blog appeared as if I was claiming credit for Operation Baen Bulk: I would like to issue a clarification and an apology.

I have
been the "front man" for Operation Baen Bulk for many years. I am the
person whose name gets associated with it, but I am far from the only
person or even the most important person in the effort.

Keith
Glass started OBB in the Fall of 2009. There were lots of little
efforts going on, but Keith took on the task of herding cats and got us
all organized - he's a logistics type, and he's done it extremely well.

Since 2009 it's been a group effort. We've run 6 different campaigns
in 6 years - not including the current one. At various times, there
have been other people involved - identifying sources for supplies,
*buying* those supplies, shipping, donating, etc. There are times Keith
has been too busy, and times I have been too busy. During much of this
time, Keith has done the "heavy lifting" - like 2013, when he configured
and loaded over 80 Kindles with >500 free books.

It has never
been my intent to claim credit in place of, nor to supplant Keith. I
call myself the "front-man" because basically, that's what I have done -
write announcements, shill for funds, help coordinate. Keith is the
founder and the one behind the scenes making it work. Any use of the
pronoun *"we"* was never intended to usurp credit, but merely to take
the attention off of persons involved with OBB, and *onto* the troops
whom we supply.

Operation Baen Bulk will likely undergo some
changes in the future. We are currently funded with an ongoing
campaign. There are funds coming in and we *will* deliver what we
promised. There may be a name change, there may not. There is
currently a personnel change, but I would like to resolve that and get
back to serving the troops.